All Or Nothing
by Chloe E Zephyr
Summary: Out of the pot and into the fire? Maybe Hermione will get more than what she bargained for.
1. Getting Away

This is my third HP fic. I finally decided to do this after MUCH consideration (A little over 2 months!) and here I am, sitting in front of my computer, right leg crossed over my left, squinting and frowning in concentration (No, I don't stick my tongue out while I type.)  
  
This story is about the HP crew, (Doesn't that sound so pro?) Hermione, Harry and Ron, after they leave Hogwarts. I can't guarantee you that you'll LOVE this fic, and I can't guarantee that you'll hate it, so just go ahead and read it! Be adventurous! What have you got to lose? :)  
  
Chapter 1  
  
"Adeline!" Laughed Hermione. "Tell me where you're whisking me off to!" Hermione reached up and started to fiddle with her silky blue blindfold.  
  
"No!" Laughed Adeline, slapping Hermione's hand away playfully. "You keep that on until we get there!"  
  
"Then get Kristin to drive faster!" Hermione cried, though she was still giggling.  
  
"Okay, okay! You heard her, Kristin! Step on it!" Immediately, the engine let out a loud roar, and the small baby blue Volvo zoomed down the street, swerving just in time to avoid an alley cat and a metal dustbin by the road.  
  
Kristin, and Adeline, Hermione's best friends, who used to be in the same class as her until she went to Hogwarts, were taking her out. Hermione, now eighteen, had just graduated from Hogwarts a few months ago, and now, after studying hard for years and years, she had come back to live with her parents and 'live a little' before going to work. Anyway, she needed to get away from her friends, as she needed time to think and sort herself out again.  
  
"When we get to, er, where we're going, you're going to tell us just where you've disappeared to for seven years! You never wrote directly to us, you mysterious creature! Your parents always passed us our letters!"  
  
'How could I send you owl post, and not freak you out?' With a small giggle, she replied, "That'll be my secret, then. You're not going to worm anything out of me!"  
  
Before Kristin or Adeline could retort, a loud horn sounded behind their car. Kristin had subconsciously slowed down.  
  
"Put a sock in it!" Kristin yelled out the window, which she had down, before stepping hard on the pedal.  
  
Finally, Kristin slowed down. Without bothering to check for any spaces in the parking lot, Kristin parallel parked, and got out of the car. Carefully, they helped Hermione out of the car and got her to her feet. Then, they guided her towards a one-level building.  
  
"You're SO going to love this place," said Adeline, as they ascended a short flight of steps.  
  
At last, Hermione was allowed to remove her blindfold. As it slipped off over her head, she gasped. She remembered this place very well. When she was ten, her mother used to bring her and her friends for lunch here. It was an old restaurant called "Buck's Own."  
  
Before Hermione could say anything, a deep voice whispered into her ear, "Hello, stranger."  
  
Hermione turned around in surprise and gasped. "Mike! Alex! Oh, god... Chester, is that you? You bleached your hair?"  
  
For a while, Hermione was caught in a tangle of embraces with her old friends. As they sat down at a table, Hermione felt herself tearing up.  
  
"Did you plan this?" She asked Kristin.  
  
"For ages! We wondered where to take you for our reunion, and then it hit us. Where else? Buck's, of course! We practically grew up here!" Kristin answered, picking up the menu that the waiter placed in front of her.  
  
"Is everything here still the same?"  
  
"Almost, but they've got a couple of new dishes," answered Alex.  
  
"Where have you been?" Asked Mike, his brown eyes staring right into Hermione's own.  
  
Hermione shivered, remembering her crush on him back then. Even as a kid, Mike looked, to put it simply, good. His eyes looked like he was going to smile any moment, and he was always ready to help. Hermione found him sincere.  
  
"I've been away studying," answered Hermione truthfully, though she did not elaborate.  
  
"You going back anytime soon?" Chester asked, as Hermione scanned the menu.  
  
"Not in six month's time."  
  
"Six months? So soon?"  
  
"Yes, Alex," laughed Hermione. "But I may stay longer. I have to see how it goes..."  
  
The conversation was interrupted as the six of them placed their orders.  
  
"How's high school?" Asked Hermione, feeling a pang of something that felt like regret.  
  
Maybe she would have been happier if she had stayed on and went to a muggle -. 'No,' she reminded herself. 'Don't think of magic! No magical terms!' But Hermione couldn't help wishing she had gone to high school along with her friends.  
  
"Fun!" Answered Adeline immediately. "Parties at every other person's house on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and clubbing on Tuesdays. It's been our ritual!"  
  
"It must have been fun," Hermione murmured wistfully.  
  
"It was," admitted Alex. "But it felt empty without you, though."  
  
"Yeah, Herm! We're really glad you're back!"  
  
For the rest of dinner, the six exchanged stories and caught up on what anyone might have missed, and Hermione began to feel like she was whole again. Soon, she began to forget what happened to her before she left Hogwarts. And Hermione became the fun-loving person she was once again.  
  
***  
  
Hermione was smiling as she waved good-bye to her girl friends. After Kristin's car had disappeared from view, Hermione turned and walked up the concrete path to her front door. The house was dark, as her parents had flown to Wales to visit a sick relative. They would be back the next week.  
  
As she flicked on the light, a fat creature rubbed itself against her legs.  
  
"Hi, Crookshanks," she cooed, scooping up her cat and stroking it affectionately.  
  
Carrying her pet to the kitchen, she poured it a saucer of milk. While watching the orange animal contentedly lap up it's milk, Hermione sipped a chilled can of Coke, holding it occasionally to her face to cool down. All that dancing made her feel warm.  
  
Before she could take off her denim jacket, the phone rang. Hermione put her drink down on the kitchen counter and hurried to answer the phone.  
  
"Hello?" She said, breathlessly.  
  
"Hermione?"  
  
"Mike? Hi," breathed Hermione, a warm blush spreading from her neck to her forehead.  
  
"No one's home, isn't there?" He asked.  
  
"How do you know?" Asked Hermione in surprise.  
  
Mike laughed. "In case you've forgotten, I live next to the house opposite yours. Only your kitchen light is on. Looks eerie."  
  
"Yeah, it is. My cat's with me, though."  
  
"Yeah, well..."  
  
Hermione's heart began to race. "Mike?"  
  
"Well - can I... Can I come over? My parents are arguing upstairs. I hate to be around when they row."  
  
'Mike's parents were fighting?' Hermione thought in surprise. 'That's new.' To Mike, she said, "No problem. Come on over, then."  
  
Hanging up, Hermione sighed and shrugged her jacket off.  
  
In less than five minutes, the doorbell rang.  
  
"Hey," she said, as she let Mike in. "You okay?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine. They've been doing this every night since last month. Something's up, but neither of them are spilling anything to me."  
  
"Hey, why don't you go watch TV or something? I'm going to shower. I'll be right back."  
  
"No problem," Mike answered, as he sat on the plush grey sofa. Idly, he ran his hand back and forth over the velvety material.  
  
***  
  
"Mike?" Hermione whispered tentatively, as she crept down the stairs. Then she caught herself. 'What the hell?'  
  
"Mike?" She called.  
  
No answer.  
  
She realized he wasn't on the sofa anymore. "MIKE?"  
  
Then, she heard someone moving about in the kitchen. "Hey!" She sighed in relief, as he appeared with two cans of soft drinks in his hand. "Didn't you hear me call you?"  
  
"Sorry," he apologized, as he looked at what she was wearing. Hermione blushed. 'Stop it!' She ordered herself. "Didn't hear you."  
  
As they settled down opposite each other in the living room on the carpeted floor, Hermione began to relax. As she let the cool drink trickle down her throat, she played with the hem of her thin green tank top. 'I'm home,' thought Hermione, as wave after wave of content washed over her. 'I made it through seven years.'  
  
Mike's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Hermione? I'll leave at one thirty, okay? Sorry to keep you up so late, but I better stay away from there before I go nuts."  
  
Hermione found her heart melting. 'You don't need another heart break, Hermione,' she reminded herself. But she didn't care. Sitting so close to Mike made her skin prickle.  
  
"That's okay, Mike," she heard herself say reassuringly to her friend. "You can stay overnight if you want to."  
  
"Thanks, Herm!" Mike said, as he broke into a smile. "I'll just kip on the sofa."  
  
"I'll get you a blanket and some spare pillows," she said, getting up, and straightening her shorts.  
  
As Hermione went up to the storeroom, she felt a tinge of anticipation. But... Anticipation? Of what? Then, grinning, she jogged the rest of the way to the storeroom. 


	2. Her Haunting Past

Thanks to Blue Butterfly for reviewing! And to anyone else who read but did not leave me a message! XOXO  
  
Chapter 2  
  
It was half past two in the morning, and she had to meet Kristin and Adeline at nine, as they were taking her to meet up with some of her other friends. They would be spending the whole day at the park. Hermione knew that her eyes would probably be puffy and swollen in the morning, but she didn't care.  
  
'Who thought that Mike would turn out to be such a sweet, funny guy?' Hermione thought, as she laughed at yet another of his stories.  
  
"Okay, Mike, that's enough! I've got a horrible stitch. Give me a break!" Hermione pleaded, as she pressed a cushion to her stomach.  
  
Mike laughed. "It's good to have you back, Hermione."  
  
"I know!" Hermione said. "Hey, are you going to the picnic tomorrow? Did Kristin and Adeline tell you about it?"  
  
"Yeah," said Mike, stifling a yawn. "And tomorrow, I'll introduce you to someone special."  
  
Hermione felt a gnawing feeling at the pit of her stomach. "Someone special?" She echoed. Immediately, she wondered if it was his... Girlfriend? But Hermione didn't press for more information.  
  
Saying goodnight, and kissing each other lightly on the cheek, they retired.  
  
As Hermione stared at the ceiling of her bedroom, she hoped fervently that Mike would just introduce her to his best friend, or something. Anything but a girlfriend...  
  
***  
  
Hermione sighed as the warm water ran over her body. She was in her bathroom upstairs. Mike had gone home to get ready. Gently, she dabbed herself dry, then went to her room to dress. After careful consideration, she put on a sleeveless white t-shirt which showed a little of her mid-riff and a pair of cream-coloured low-slung shorts. Slipping her feet into a pair of white sneakers, she was ready.  
  
Glancing in the mirror, Hermione realized that her hair was a little too wild. 'Better get more conditioner,' she told herself. Reluctantly, she found her wand and straightened out her hair - something she had never done before. She was surprised at the results. 'I have to admit I look pretty good,' she thought, as she surveyed her neat room.  
  
Then, she went downstairs and made herself a tuna sandwich. Chewing slowly, she made her way to the kitchen window, which over-looked her garden, and the houses opposite hers. Hermione found herself gazing across the road at Mike's house, and wondering what he was doing at that moment. Then, she realized that someone was standing at his kitchen window and staring at her. It was Mike himself.  
  
Hermione found that she was blushing for being caught staring, as Mike lifted his right hand in a friendly wave. Hermione waved back. Then, she turned away from the window and checked the clock on the wall. Fifteen minutes more to go.  
  
Sighing, Hermione lowered herself into a chair, and found herself thinking - not for the first time - about Hogwarts. In her seventh year, she had broken up with Ron after a steady two-year relationship. Then, when she became the Head Girl, and had to work alongside the Head Boy, Draco Malfoy, they spent more time with each other than anyone else. Before they knew it, they had become a couple.  
  
However, three months into their relationship, Hermione found out that Draco was secretly seeing a Slytherin fifth-year, Sarah Evans. In fury, Hermione had confronted Draco.  
  
"Draco, how could you see another girl behind my back?" Hermione had yelled, feeling a little less than safe in her room. "I had no idea!"  
  
"Hermione, listen to me, will you? My father, before he died, told my mother that I should go out with Sarah."  
  
"I thought it was Pansy," spat Hermione, her eyes shining with tears.  
  
"No, it used to be her, but Pansy's family is getting weaker. Sarah, he said, would be a better match," Draco had tried to explain, as he attempted to get nearer to Hermione so he could hold her in a hug.  
  
"Then you should have at least told me, instead of keeping it in the dark!" Hermione yelled, as her tears began to flow. Pain attacked her and stabbed her heart. She moved away from Draco, a porcelain dolphin in her raised hand, ready to throw at Draco.  
  
"I swear I was going to!" Draco hollered back at her. "I thought you'd at least give me a chance to explain, but no. Look at you! Why are you so mad?"  
  
"Why?" Hermione laughed strangely. "Why? Because I believed that I'd finally found true love! That's why! And I find that you've been cheating on me!"  
  
Draco crumbled, and his eyes began to fill with tears. "Hermione, I swear I love you more than anything else, but if I break up with Sarah, my mother will be after my blood! She will never hear of it!"  
  
"Then go to Sarah!" Cried out Hermione, spitting the fifth-year's name like it was a deadly venom. "Go back to her and uphold your darned family name!"  
  
"Hermione, I can always love you too! Please don't do this!" Draco pleaded.  
  
"Love me TOO? No, Draco, I'm not going to wait for you, and go through the torture of seeing you marry that - that girl!" Then, angrily, Hermione pushed him out of her room and sealed it with a strong spell.  
  
But Draco did not give up easily. He wrote her letters, and she never read them. She would tear them up and send them back. All gifts were returned, unopened and Hermione took extra care to avoid him. Work was strictly work. No more fooling around, or making out in between.  
  
Even on the last day, before she had crossed the barrier, Draco had come up to her.  
  
"Hermione, please. Please give us a chance!"  
  
"No. There is no 'us'," she had replied, her voice even, though her heart was slowly crumbling into nothing-ness. She knew she was opening the wound by talking to Draco. "No, Draco. You want me, you decide. It's either all, or nothing."  
  
Then, she had left with her parents.  
  
A loud honking outside her house interrupted Hermione's thoughts.  
  
"HERMIONE!" Yelled Kristin. "WE'RE HERE!!"  
  
"Shut up, Kristin! Or the whole neighbourhood'll know we're here too!" Hermione heard Adeline say.  
  
Hermione laughed as she hastily wiped away the tears she hadn't realized she had. Grabbing her purse from a chair, she ran outside, stopping only to pat Crookshanks.  
  
As she jogged down the pathway, she realized that Mike was seated in the backseat.  
  
"Hey!" He called. "Hope you don't mind! My car broke down."  
  
"Oh no, she won't mind," Kristin answered for Hermione. Then she winked at Hermione. "It's pretty squeezy back there, but it's okay, right, Herm? After all, you'll be with one of the hottest guys around!"  
  
"Shut up, Kristin!" Laughed Hermione, though her heart was racing as she got into Kristin's car. The backseat had baskets of food, and was crowded with other things Hermione couldn't identify. As her leg brushed Mike's, she blushed and pretended nothing had happened.  
  
For the entire ride, Hermione reluctantly tried not to bump into Mike too much. Kristin was driving like a maniac, as usual, but she was swerving left and right on purpose. Hermione had caught her winking at Adeline.  
  
As they were unloading the car, Mike whispered to Hermione, "Don't tell anyone about my parents, okay? No one knows except you, Chester and Alex."  
  
Without glancing at him, Hermione nodded. The places where she had bumped into Mike were tingling. It felt so weird. Like how Hermione had felt about... Draco.  
  
"Earth to Hermione! Is your head still in the clouds, or still high from that ride?" Kristin teased.  
  
"Kristin!" Hermione said, pretending to be mad.  
  
Soon, they had set up the food table, and the food was arranged neatly. While waiting for Chester, Alex and a few others to come, Adeline and Kristin went off to get ice from the 24-hour mart nearby. They did not ask Hermione to come along with them.  
  
"Uh, Hermione?"  
  
Hermione's attention was diverted from watching her friends leave to Mike. "Yeah?"  
  
"You... You wanna walk by the pond?"  
  
"Okay," said Hermione, shrugging nonchalantly so she wouldn't look too eager.  
  
As they strolled by the pond, and watched the toddlers and older children throw large pieces of bread to the ducks, laughing without a care in the world, they began to wish they were 10 years old once again.  
  
"Hermione, this morning when I went home, my dad wasn't there. It's Sunday, and he usually takes my brother to a baseball game. But Jason was home, and my dad's car wasn't in the garage. And his stuff aren't in the bathroom."  
  
"Did you try asking your mom?" Hermione asked, pushing her straight hair over her bare shoulders.  
  
"I did," said Mike, pushing his hands into his pants pocket. "But she just said he was visiting a friend."  
  
"What about Jason?"  
  
"He wasn't home last night either. And he doesn't want to talk about it, anyway."  
  
Hermione sighed sadly, as she stopped and faced the water. She tilted her face upwards to catch a few rays of the sun.  
  
"My door's always open if anything happens, Mike."  
  
"Thanks, Herm."  
  
For a moment, they were silent.  
  
"MIKE!" Called a girl's excited voice.  
  
Mike and Hermione turned. A petite brown-haired girl in a pale blue mini- dress ran up to them, and threw her arms around Mike. Hermione felt like throwing herself into the water and melting.  
  
"Hey," said Mike, closing his eyes as he hugged the girl back.  
  
"How've you been?" She shrieked, letting go of Mike and stepping back to survey him.  
  
"Good. You?"  
  
"Fantastic! Boarding school isn't as boring as it seems to be!"  
  
"A-hem," said Hermione politely.  
  
"Oh, right," said Mike, embarrassed. "Hermione, this is Adriana - or Anna, the special person I told you about. Anna, this is Hermione."  
  
"Hi," said Hermione, suddenly feeling like a giant next to the small green- eyed girl.  
  
"Hey. You're a friend of Mike's? I've never seen you around," said Anna.  
  
"No, you haven't. I've been away studying."  
  
"Away, studying? Man, it's a drag, isn't it, being away from all your friends?" Said Anna, dimples in her cheeks as she laughed.  
  
"Tell me about it!" Laughed Hermione. Though she was uneasy, she found herself liking Anna. She wondered if they were a couple, but it would be rude to ask, so Hermione didn't ask.  
  
However, as though reading her mind, Anna said, "No, Mike and I aren't a couple. But we used to be neighbours, until I moved with my father and my stepmother. But I'm staying with my mother now."  
  
Mike laughed at the obvious relief on Hermione's face. Taking both girls' hands, he led them back to where everyone was.  
  
"Hey, Mikey-boy!" Yelled Chester, loudly enough for everyone to hear. "Two- timing weasel, aren't ya?"  
  
Everyone laughed as Mike dropped both girls' hands and charged at Chester. Laughing, they fell to the soft grass, tackling each other.  
  
"Ignore them," said Adeline, rolling her eyes. "They're always doing that. Let me introduce you to these people, though I think you probably know most of them."  
  
Then, Hermione was introduced to Star, Cheryl, Honey, Dan, and Remy. Hermione knew Star, Cheryl and Dan from when she was in kindergarten and seeing them now, after so many years was a big surprise.  
  
Honey, whose eyes and hair matched her name, was a pretty girl, who was a little taller than Hermione. Her quiet nature seemed to give her an aura of mystery. Remy was a little on the chubby side, and very friendly. His black hair and brown eyes reminded Hermione of Sarah, but she pushed the thought away.  
  
Soon, the party was in full swing. Alex, who was late, as he had to help his father, soon fell into the party mood. The radio, which Chester had brought along, was blasting out music, and Hermione felt like getting up and dancing.  
  
While eating, Hermione got to know the others better and felt more comfortable in her skin. It felt good to belong somewhere again.  
  
Finally, by sunset, Cheryl, Star, Anna and Dan had left. Remy and Honey would be helping to clear up before they too would leave.  
  
When all the trash had been cleared away and scraps of food were scooped into a bag and disposed off, Mike took Hermione's hand, and they strolled once more by the water, watching the sunset. It looked like some giant kid up in the sky had spilled his watercolours. Blue and orange and yellow and red hues dripped and sloshed over the horizon. It was one of the most beautiful scenes the two of them had ever seen for a long time.  
  
Finding a dry patch of grass by the water's edge, they sat down, and Hermione leaned closer to Mike, enjoying his company.  
  
"Herm?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Isn't this beautiful?"  
  
"What, the sunset? Yeah. It's lovely." Hermione rested her head on Mike's shoulder, and felt her cheek vibrate gently as he spoke to her.  
  
"I wish time would stop and we could just stay here forever."  
  
'He wants to be alone - with me!' Thought Hermione happily. "But life wouldn't go on, would it?" She said.  
  
"I don't want it to go on," he said, with overtones of bitterness in his voice.  
  
Hermione was quiet. Then, at the same time, the two of them turned and looked at each other. Hermione felt herself drowning in those two expressive brown whirlpools. Slowly, the two of them leaned towards each other and, as their lips met, the world faded away, and nothing was there, except the other. When the kiss ended, they allowed their faces to linger near each other's.  
  
In the heat of the moment, Mike asked, "Hermione, do you want to go out with me?"  
  
As Hermione was about to say "yes," Draco's face flashed in her mind like a curse. Gasping, she got up and left Mike staring at her retreating back in surprise, wondering what he had said. As he got up and dusted his hands, he decided that there was more to Hermione and her past than she was letting on. 


	3. Let Go

Thank you to Clover, Cat Lover (Very polite review, I thank you!), Bloom Girl (AKA Julianne Blue Black. Lol.), Flea da Shmee (Heya!), and Nikkifaro. Before you read, I have something to tell you lots. I don't know when I'm going to update next, as I am working on a couple of stories for fictionpress.net, so don't check here too often! Thanks, and sorry!  
  
Chapter 3  
  
As Hermione walked away from Mike, she knew at once she had done the wrong thing. However, although she was greatly tempted to turn and run back into his arms, her pride prevented her from doing so.  
  
"Herm!" Called Adeline to her perturbed-looking friend. "Herm! What's wrong?"  
  
Distracted, Hermione turned and gazed dazedly at Adeline. Then, she came back down to earth. "Uh... Yeah?"  
  
"Hermione, what's wrong? You look sick!" Said Kristin, sounding worried. It was something totally uncharacteristic of her.  
  
"N-nothing... I'm just, er, dizzy," Hermione lied.  
  
Adeline looked uncomfortable. "Herm, we were thinking of going to the club later, with Chester and Alex. We thought maybe you and Mike would like to come..."  
  
"Just go ahead, you two, I'll -," Hermione was interrupted by Kristin.  
  
"How are you going to get home? Oh, wait a minute!" Then, before Hermione could say anything or figure out what Kristin was going to do, her friend turned and hollered, "MIKE!"  
  
Hermione paled, and looked away.  
  
When Mike walked up to them, in an uncomfortable way, Adeline and Kristin noticed, they asked him if he would be able to accompany Hermione home. Mike was more than willing to do so, and arrangements were made for him to send Hermione home in a cab, then come and meet them at the club later, if he wanted to.  
  
Awkwardly, Mike took Hermione's arm and gently led her to the side of the road.  
  
When they had flagged down a cab and were seated fairly comfortably in it, Hermione's head on Mike's shoulder, Hermione said softly, "Why?"  
  
Surprised, Mike said, "Why, what?"  
  
"Why are you sending me home. You know I'm not really sick."  
  
Mike smiled a smile that Hermione could not see, but could only hear from the lift in his voice. "I care, and you know it. And any excuse to be with you is fine with me."  
  
Smiling softly as her feelings from the episode at the pond faded away, Hermione turned and nuzzled her face in Mike's chest, feeling secure. She had a feeling this would last... But only if she chose the right path along the way. 


End file.
